Paralyzed
by SSBFreak
Summary: In the wake of a freak accident, Lindsay is forced to live life in a whole new way. And who else would help her through it other than the one whose life Lindsay saved when the accident happened?
1. The Accident

Chapter one: The Accident

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The sun was shining brightly down on a city somewhere in Ontario. Due to it being the middle of summer, school was out and there were a lot of kids and teenagers around, enjoying the weather. The busiest parts of the city this afternoon were the city's huge mall and the theatres.

A young couple walked down a sidewalk, carrying bags of goods they had bought after going shopping…Well, the girl did all of the shopping and the boy was carrying most of the bought goods, which amounted to a countless amount of bags.

"You're falling behind, Tyler!" The blonde girl, carrying only one small bag, called out as she looked over her shoulder.

The brown-haired teenage boy, following his girlfriend, was struggling to carry all of his girlfriend's goods. He was managing to do it pretty well thus far, but was indeed starting to fall behind. "…Oy…" He moaned to himself.

"Thanks again for coming with me to help me shop. You're such a sweetie, Tyler." The blonde said, smiling and seemingly oblivious to her boyfriend's struggling.

Tyler, the boy, forced a smile, trying to ignore the fact that it felt like he was carrying his weight in stuff. "H-Hey, no sweat Lindsay." He chuckled nervously. "I'd do anything to make you happy."

"Aww! That's so sweet!" Lindsay cooed as she gave her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. "I don't know what I was doing before I met you!"

"For once, Chris Maclean did something good for us, didn't he?" Tyler said, forming a smirk.

Indeed, as much as the two didn't want to admit it, Lindsay and Tyler had Chris Maclean to thank for bringing them together. If the two of them hadn't gotten onto Total Drama Island, they may have never even met, despite only living about twenty minutes away from each other. Ever since the show had finished (and the campers had managed to force Chris to let them off the island), Lindsay and Tyler had been going out.

Lindsay always loved making these shopping trips and always brought Tyler along on them. She always told him that she was only going to check out a few things, but always came back with too much stuff for one person to carry (and yet Tyler still managed to carry it by himself). This day was no different, and to Tyler, it felt like Lindsay had bought much more than she usually did.

"Now…Where to now?" Lindsay asked herself.

Tyler's eyes bugged out. "W-What?! We're still not done?!" He asked.

"You kidding? We haven't even BEEN to the mall yet, Tyler." Lindsay said with a bright smile. "But maybe we should drop everything we've got so far off at my house before we continue."

"Uh…I'm okay with that." Tyler chuckled nervously.

Lindsay flashed a sweet smile. "I'm glad you think so, Tyler." She nodded before pausing, then looking around with a confused expression on her face. "Now then…Where's my house?"

To anyone else, this reaction from the blonde may have said that there was something seriously wrong with her. However, Tyler found this normal for Lindsay and gave his reply. "Just a couple of blocks away. Remember?" He asked.

Lindsay blinked a couple of times, then brightened up. "Oh, yeah! Now I remember!" She giggled. "I can't believe I forgot again…"

"So…Uh…Are we going, then?" Tyler asked hopefully. He had managed to make it this far without dropping any of Lindsay's stuff (which was actually his best record yet), but his arms felt like they were starting to give.

"Oh, sure! Let's just go back to my place…And…" Lindsay said as she trailed off when she saw a particular figure walking down the sidewalk. "Um…Tyler, doesn't that girl over there look familiar?"

"Uh…Which one?"

"The one carrying the gym bag and listening to the MP3 player."

"…Oh, crap…"

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A dark-haired girl walked down the sidewalk, a heavy gym bag slung over one shoulder (although she would alternate as she walked to give both shoulders a workout). Her dark hair was done into a ponytail that wafted in the summer breeze as she walked and her face looked like it was frozen with an unamused expression on it. Her unibrow looked like it was laying flat across her eyes and she didn't give anyone a second glance as she walked past them.

People that saw her coming quickly got out of the way, knowing how badly things ended whenever this particular girl got mad. The athletic teenager paid it no mind. In fact, she was always pleased with the fact that people gave her some space when she walked.

Like everyone else from the show, Eva was glad to be free from the contract set by Chris Maclean. She had even made a physical threat to the host of the show as she was leaving, warning of a massive beating if he or anyone who worked for him ever came near her again. Chris, knowing that Eva was always serious and definitely outclassed him in the strength department, had kept his word so far.

Even still, Eva wouldn't put it past Chris to film the ex-campers in the off-season to see what they were up to. The fitness buff was always on the lookout for hidden cameras or hired interns. In spite of this, Eva hadn't found any cameras yet and she figured that any interns hired by Chris would come near her (valuing their organs much better than their job).

Currently, Eva was on her way to the gym, which was something she did as often as she could. Normally, she did her workout in the school gym, but during summer Eva was forced to go to the workout center at the city's mall. Not that it really mattered to her, anyway. She had a full membership to that gym and she had gone there so many times that the owner and employees of the gym knew her on a first-name basis.

Listening to the rock music coming from her MP3 player and blocking out the world around her, Eva took a swig from her bottle of water as she continued on her walk. If her timing was right (and it usually was), she'd be at the gym just in time to start her workout.

"Hey! You're Ellen from TDI!" An eerily-familiar voice called out.

Despite having her headphones over both ears, Eva was still able to hear the voice calling out to her. The fact that her name had been misspelled pretty much told her who it was. "Please tell me that's not who I think it is." She muttered as she slowly turned.

Her fears were confirmed when she saw a familiar blonde bombshell rushing over (as fast as she could in heels, anyway) with a brown-haired jock struggling to carry a ton of baggage behind her.

"Remember me, Ellen? It's me, Lindsay!" Lindsay said brightly.

Eva's eye started twitching. Lindsay annoyed her to no end because of her stupidity (although she had to admit that Katie and Sadie were a little more annoying) and she was actually one of the things she didn't really miss about TDI in the first place.

Managing to contain her annoyance, Eva took a deep breath. "First of all, my name is EVA." She said, her unibrow starting to turn into a V. "Secondly, what the heck are you doing here?"

"I live in this city!" Lindsay said brightly. "I have been ever since I was a kid!"

Eva's eyes widened. She had actually been living in the same city as Lindsay all this time? She just couldn't believe it. All Eva could do was hope that Lindsay wouldn't catch on.

Lindsay gasped. "Oh! We actually live in the same city!" She cheered. "This is amazing! I didn't think I'd ever see someone from the show again!"

"Uh…Lindsay, I'm still here, you know." Tyler supplied.

"I mean other than you, Tyler." Lindsay said sweetly before looking at Eva. "So where are you off to today, Ethel?"

"Eva." The fitness buff said gruffly. "And for your information, I'm going to the gym. Obviously somewhere you've never been before."

"Oh! The gym at the mall? Tyler goes there all the time!" Lindsay said. "I know where that place is!...Hey! Maybe we can go to the mall together!"

Although Eva was caught off guard with the fact that Tyler frequented the same gym as her (although she never really paid attention to her surroundings while she was there), she snapped back to reality when Lindsay made her suggestion. "Forget it, kid. You actually think I'd want to go with you to the mall when I just want to go to the gym and nothing else?" She quizzed.

Lindsay's face turned to confusion. "Uh…Well, I was thinking we'd walk with you and then you'd have someone to talk to on your way to the gym." She pointed out. "I mean, doesn't it totally suck not having someone to talk to during a walk?"

"I prefer it that way." Eva grunted. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment at the gym."

With that, Eva turned and continued her walk, leaving Lindsay and Tyler behind.

Lindsay blinked a few times, utterly confused. "She doesn't like having someone to talk to?" She asked.

"It's just her nature, Lindsay." Tyler shrugged. "I mean, you weren't on her team back on TDI. Eva's just one of those people that just doesn't work well with others."

Lindsay didn't seem to hear Tyler. She just watched Eva continue walking by herself. However, when she saw Eva walk in front of an apartment, Lindsay found herself looking upwards and her eyes widened at what she saw.

About seven floors up on the outer wall of the apartment, there was a scaffold loaded with a large amount of cleaning supplies. However, the window washer sitting on the scaffold was in the middle of trying to pull himself upwards when he lost his grip on the ropes.

Lindsay gasped. "Look at that scaffold, Tyler! It's going to fall!" She said.

Tyler followed the trail and saw where it was going to land. "Isn't Eva walking towards where it's going to fall?" He asked.

Lindsay's eyes widened. "Eva! Eva!!" She called out. "Look up!!"

Eva heard Lindsay calling out to her, but simply thought that she was trying to pester her again. She turned up the volume on her MP3 player to block her out.

However, that was exactly when the window washer lost his grip on the rope. The man managed to jump into the open window he was washing, but the entire scaffold was sent on a free-fall down towards the sidewalk below.

"It's falling! Lindsay, the scaffold's falling!" Tyler said as he looked to his right. "And Eva's still-" He was cut off when he saw that Lindsay was no longer standing with him. "…Lindsay?" He asked as he looked ahead again. His eyes snapped open.

Lindsay was running headlong at Eva, quickly catching up to her. Eva was still unaware of the apparent danger she was in.

"**EVA!! LOOK OUT!!!"** Lindsay screamed as she leapt at Eva and shoved her forward.

_**CRASH!!!**_

Eva landed on her side and rolled forward a few feet. When she regained her senses, Eva growled as she got to her feet and ripped her headphones out of her ears.

"Alright, who's the dead man who-" Eva said as she spun in place to look at her attacker, only to stop herself short. Her eyes widened in shock at the scene that lay before her.

Lindsay was laying on the sidewalk, unconscious, her entire lower half covered by the heavy scaffold.

"**LINDSAY!!!"** Tyler screamed as he dropped everything he was carrying and rushed over to his girlfriend.

Eva remained frozen in place, shock evident on her face. Eva realized what Lindsay had just done and, for some odd reason, couldn't pry her eyes away from the unconscious blonde that had just saved her life.

"E-Eva!"

Eva snapped back to reality and saw Tyler struggling to lift the scaffold off of Lindsay (without much luck). By now, a crowd had started to form. "H-Help me get Lindsay out from under there!!" He pleaded.

Although she was never one to take orders, Eva was quick to comply with Tyler's wishes. Eva rushed over, grabbed the scaffold and lifted it off of Lindsay, allowing Tyler to pull her out from under it.

Once Lindsay was safely out of the way, Tyler quickly got down and started shaking her by the shoulders. "Lindsay! Come on, Lindsay! Wake up!" He pleaded.

As Tyler continued to try and get his unconscious girlfriend to wake up, Eva continued to watch the blonde girl, still not sure as to what had just happened. Luckily, someone had called an ambulance and it arrived in minutes. Eva wasn't even aware of its presence until she saw the paramedics loading Lindsay onto the stretcher.

Eva could only watch as Lindsay was loaded into the back of the ambulance, which quickly drove off, sirens blazing. Eva looked at Tyler, only to see that he was already running off, most likely to go back to Lindsay's house to inform her parents as to what had happened.

A thousand thoughts ran through Eva's head as she picked up her stuff and rushed to the nearest bus stop to get a ride to the hospital. The biggest thought of all was wondering why Lindsay would do something so drastic for someone who didn't think very highly of her in the first place…

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After what seemed like an eternity, Eva's bus arrived at the hospital. Paying the driver, Eva jumped off and rushed towards the building, wasting no time in getting inside. Trying to be as quiet as she could while still being as quick as possible, Eva made her way over to the emergency section of the hospital.

As it turned out, Tyler had been quicker than Eva thought. He was already in the waiting room with Lindsay's parents and her sister Paula. They all looked distraught and Lindsay's parents were holding hands tightly.

Tyler heard Eva come in and looked up, surprised to see her. "Uh…Eva? What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Lindsay saved my life. I want to know how she is." Eva snapped back at Tyler as she sat down in an empty chair.

Paula looked at Eva and paused, wiping her tears. "A-Aren't you that angry girl from TDI?" She asked.

"Please. Not now." Eva said quickly.

The group sat in silence for a while before a doctor emerged from the door. Everyone was quick to get up, but Lindsay's parents had the fastest draw.

"How is she, doc?" Lindsay's father asked.

The doctor looked at everyone for a moment, as if wondering what to say. "Well, the good news is that your daughter is going to be fine." He assured. "She's just resting right now and she'll have to stay in the hospital for a couple of days."

"Oh, thank goodness." Lindsay's mother sighed in relief as she embraced her husband. Paula and Tyler looked visibly relieved as well.

Eva, on the other hand, felt that the doctor wasn't saying everything. "What's the bad news?" She asked.

"Uh…What?" The doctor asked.

"You gave us the good news. What's the bad news?" Eva asked again.

The doctor paused, then sighed. "I said that she was going to be alright. I didn't say she was going to make a full recovery." He admitted. "The scaffold fell mainly on her legs and…Well…"

"Just tell us, doctor." Lindsay's mother pleaded.

Eva bit her lip as she waited for the doctor to speak. Something told her she wasn't going to like this. Eventually, the doctor finished and gave his response.

"Lindsay's paralyzed from the waist down."

To be continued…


	2. The Hospital

Chapter two: The Hospital

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It only took a few seconds for the news to sink in, and no one was happy to hear it. Lindsay was paralyzed. Her father was holding onto her crying mother and Paula had covered her face with her hands, sobbing into them. Tyler remained silent, but was looking sorrowfully at the floor, clearly upset at the news.

Eva stared at the doctor in shock, as if waiting for the doctor to say that he was kidding. "…Paralyzed?" She repeated, her eyes wide. "As in 'never-going-to-walk-again' paralyzed?!"

The doctor nodded sadly. "The nerves in her lower torso were shot. The impact pretty much destroyed the ability of movement." He explained. "I'm actually amazed that she isn't paralyzed even more. Technically, she shouldn't be able to move anything below the neck."

"But…Will she be able to pull through?" Lindsay's mother asked.

"She's going to need a wheelchair. No question about that." The doctor replied. "But if Lindsay was willing to do what she did, I'm expecting that she'll have no trouble adapting."

Hearing this only pulled at Eva's heart even more. Before she could speak, Lindsay's parents again spoke first.

"Can we see her?" Linday's father asked.

"Yes, but she's asleep." The doctor replied. "Remember to keep quiet while you're in the room."

After receiving directions to Linday's room, the group silently walked down the hallways of the hospital to go see how she was doing. Eva brought up the rear, trying her hardest to avert her eyes from the rooms as she walked. She hated hospitals and the last time she was in one was an experience she was really hoping that she wouldn't relive. Eva tried to block out the painful memories of her last visit to the hospital as she followed Linday's family to their destination.

Eventually, the group arrived at the door to Lindsay's room. After a moment's hesitation, Eva followed Lindsay's family and Tyler into the room.

The room didn't look any different than any other normal hospital, but the pale gray on the walls just made it feel depressing to Eva. The athletic girl spotted Lindsay laying on one of the beds (the others in the room were empty), sound asleep and hooked up to a bunch of machines. The heartbeat monitor beside Lindsay's bed was giving off a beep every second, showing that her condition was normal. Despite all this, Lindsay was sleeping peacefully and no one wanted to ruin it for her.

Eva was never one to let things get to her, but seeing Lindsay like this after doing what she did was almost too much for the athlete to handle. Eva still couldn't quite get her mind wrapped around the logic of Lindsay risking her life for her.

Lindsay's mother was almost instantly at her daughter's side, holding onto her hand. "Oh, my poor baby. How could something like this happen to her?" She asked.

"Dear, sometimes there are things that can't be helped or prevented." Linday's father replied, placing a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder.

This just pulled at Eva's heart even more. In her mind, the accident COULD have been prevented if she hadn't been so stubborn as to not listen to Lindsay's warnings. Tyler was surprised when he saw how upset Eva looked and took it as his cue to change the subject as best as he could.

"When do you think she'll wake up?" Tyler asked, approaching Lindsay's bed.

"The doctor said she was just resting." Linday's father replied. "She's had a rough day, so I imagine that she'll be out for a bit."

"Man. I can't believe it's come to this." Paula sighed. "I mean, I know it happens all of the time, but…When it happens to your own sister…"

Eva couldn't take it anymore. She needed to get away from all the emotion in the room, no matter how guilty she felt. She rushed towards the door to the room, roughly brushing past Tyler on the way out (but offering a quick and unexpected apology to him), leaving Linday's family in silence.

"What do you think was bothering her, dear?" Linday's father asked. "She looked pretty upset."

"I'll go see, honey." Linday's mother explained as she got up. "Stay here with Lindsay and make sure she's alright."

"I can go check on Eva, Mrs. Mason." Tyler volunteered.

"It's fine, Tyler." Linday's mother assured. "I think I know where she's gone and you wouldn't be allowed in there."

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Eva closed the door to the ladies washroom behind her as she approached the sinks. Placing her hands on the counter, Eva gazed into the mirror, a hurt look on her face. She always knew that her poor attitude would get her in trouble one day (Total Drama Island proved that), but she never would have thought that her anger would have put someone else's life in danger, let alone her own.

"Lindsay's paralyzed. She nearly got killed because I was too stubborn to listen to her." Eva said. "How could so much happen just from that?"

Eva couldn't bear to look at herself anymore. She turned away from the mirror and walked over to the wall. Leaning against the wall, Eva slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor, against the wall. The fitness buff sighed as she lightly hit the back of her head against the wall.

"Eva? Eva, honey?" A voice Eva recognized as Lindsay's mother asked from the other side of the door. "Are you alright in there?"

Eva looked at the door. "How'd you know I was in here?" She asked dully.

The door opened and Lindsay's mother entered. "You left Lindsay's room in such a hurry that I knew this place would be where you'd go first." She explained. "You need to talk?"

"What's there to talk about? Lindsay nearly got killed because of something stupid _**I**_ ended up doing." Eva replied, looking away.

"…Eva, what happened?" Lindsay's mother asked, sitting down beside Eva. "You can tell me."

Eva sighed. "You really want to know?" She checked.

"Of course I do. You need to get it off your chest."

The fitness buff sighed again. "I was walking to the gym and I walked underneath where that scaffold was going to land. Lindsay tried calling out to me to warn me, but I ignored her and just turned my music up." Eva replied. "Because she couldn't get my attention, she shoved me out of the way, but the scaffold landed on her instead."

Linday's mother gasped. "Oh, my!" She said. "Is…Is that true?"

Eva nodded. "You see? This whole accident COULD have been prevented." She replied. "If I wasn't so stubborn, she wouldn't be in a hospital bed right now!"

"Eva, what's done is done. Don't beat yourself up about it. I'm sure Lindsay wouldn't like that." Lindsay's mother said as she placed a comforting hand on Eva's shoulder. "In fact, in spite of what happened, her father and I couldn't be prouder of her. She actually risked her life to save yours. I know it wasn't without consequences, but Lindsay's a hero."

"But…She's paralyzed…" Eva stammered.

"But she's also alive. We'll take a paralyzed daughter over a dead daughter any day." Lindsay's mother said. "We know that it'll be hard for Lindsay to adjust to not being able to walk, but at least she's still alive."

Eva sighed. "Lindsay is so lucky. You guys are so optimistic about this whole thing." She admitted. "I just don't get why she even bothered to save me, though."

"Eva, how could you say that?!"

"Because I made no friends on that stupid show we were on! I considered Lindsay an annoyance!" Eva replied. "Why would she save the life of someone that didn't even LIKE her before?!"

"Because it's Lindsay's nature to be forgiving." Lindsay's mother explained. "Maybe she doesn't hold a grudge against you because you didn't use her like that Heather girl or that Justin boy did."

"It…It still doesn't seem fair." Eva said, hanging her head low. "I should be the one in that hospital bed, being unable to walk! Not Lindsay!"

"Lindsay made the choice to save you, dear." Lindsay's mother explained as she stood up. "Please don't be guilty about it. I'm sure Lindsay won't blame you. Now, I'm going back to Lindsay's room, but you're welcome to come as well to visit with her."

With that, Lindsay's mother left the washroom. Eva sighed as she stood up and approached the sink mirror again. She looked at herself in the mirror, only then realizing that she had shed some tears that she didn't know about. Eva looked different now, as if she looked less guilty and more like herself.

"Lindsay saved me. I need to find a way to pay her back." Eva told herself. "I…I need to help her through this…"

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Hours passed and it was getting late. Lindsay's father, whom had said he would spend the night at the hospital to be with his daughter, entered her room. The middle-aged man suddenly saw that Eva was sitting by Lindsay's bedside, head on her bed and sound asleep.

Lindsay's father walked over to the sleeping Eva and gently nudged her shoulder. "Eva. Eva, wake up." He said.

"Ugh…Huh?" Eva asked as she woke up. "Is Lindsay up yet?"

"Eva, you've been here all day. Please go home and get some rest." Lindsay's father said.

"N-No. I need to be here when Lindsay wakes up." Eva shook her head, rubbing her eyes.

"Eva, please. You need to rest." Lindsay's father said. "We'll be sure to call you if Lindsay wakes up in the morning."

Eva hesitantly looked at Lindsay's still-sleeping form and sighed. "Promise me that you'll call me as soon as she wakes up." She said. "I don't care what time it is."

"I promise."

The fitness buff yawned as she slowly got to her feet and said goodnight to Lindsay's father, leaving the room. Eva staggered her way through the hospital and eventually made it outside, where she wandered over to the bus stop and waited for a ride to show up.

Eva almost dozed off on the bus on the way back home, but didn't because she knew she'd miss her stop if she did. Eventually, Eva arrived at the stop closest to her house and managed to make it to her bedroom. When she made it to her bed, she instantly fell facefirst onto her bed and went to sleep almost instantly.

The only thing Eva could think of when she went to sleep was how much she hoped she wouldn't have nightmares about Lindsay…

To be continued…


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